


Tell Me a Story

by Kaye_Fraser



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Altered Reality, Angst, M/M, Mental Institutions, Schizophrenia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-24
Updated: 2016-07-24
Packaged: 2018-07-26 09:48:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7569487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaye_Fraser/pseuds/Kaye_Fraser
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A dangerous incident causes Alec to question what is real, and what is not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tell Me a Story

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!
> 
> So I thought I was done with these characters. I was working away on my own original stuff, and for some reason, some of these characters were still sticking around in my head. Alas, I gave into them, and wrote them another story. And a one-shot too! I think I've only written two one-shots, ever. Hope it worked out okay. Btw, these characters sure are clingy.
> 
> Anyways, please enjoy!
> 
> Cheers,  
> Kaye

_Tell Me a Story_

(***) 

"Alec? Alec, are you still with me?" 

He turned his head to stare at the man sitting in front of him, his eyes focusing in on the figure for the first time. Neatly cropped gray hair, a trimmed beard, and intelligent blue eyes – he couldn't recall who this person was. But given the pristine tie, and three-piece suit – minus the jacket draped over the back of the armchair at the moment – he guessed the man was of some importance. 

"I-I'm sorry," he said. "What was that? A-And who are you again?" 

The stranger straightened slightly in his chair, uncrossed his legs, and jotted something down onto the notepad resting on his lap. When he looked back up, his expression was different, softer. "My name is Dr. Blackburn, Dr. Lyle Blackburn. And you, Alec, were just in the middle of telling me a story. Did you want to continue?" 

Alec swallowed, his mouth dry all of a sudden. He searched his memory for this supposed story he had been telling, but came up empty. His gaze landed on the glass of water sitting atop the coffee table in front of him, and without hesitation, he leaned forward and grabbed it. He drank, stalling. 

The man – Dr. Blackburn – watched and waited patiently. The scrutiny remained until Alec finally put his glass back down. 

"I don't think I know what story you're talking about," he admitted, his cheeks warming a bit from guilt. 

Dr. Blackburn didn't appear upset by the lapse. "Demons. You were telling me about a secret group that hunted demons, and monsters, and things that go bump in the night. Shadowhunters, you called them." 

" Shadowhunters?" Alec licked his lips. He looked down at the fancy rug under his feet in concentration, and felt his brows draw together. None of this rang any bells. He stayed silent, not knowing what to say. 

"Hmm, okay," Blackburn said after a few minutes. "Maybe that's enough for today then. We can continue tomorrow." 

Alec nodded. "Sure, of course." 

Blackburn set his notepad down on the table, and stood. Alec watched quietly as the other man walked to the door and exchanged a few words with someone outside. 

Nothing felt familiar here. Nothing felt … right. He rubbed the back of his head, trying to get rid of the odd sensation. He couldn't say what it was exactly, but something was off. 

"Let's go, Alec." 

He obediently stood up as two large men entered the office. They were tall, taller than him even, dressed in neat white scrubs, and were not familiar at all. 

"W-Where am I going?" he asked, apprehensive as he looked back and forth between the two big men. His body unconsciously tensed at the potential threat, and for some reason, his fingers twitched, seeking out – he didn’t know what his fingers were reaching for, actually. 

"Back to your room." 

Before Alec could say anything, the two men each took a firm hold of one of his arms, and he was guided out. They walked down a long hallway, him being flanked by those two 'guards', under the repetitive beams of fluorescent lights, with their footsteps squeaking a steady staccato on the shiny floor. He passed doors, many, many doors. Faces peered out at him through a few of them, watching him through the paneled windows. Multicolored eyes, tattooed skin, red hair … it all passed by in a blur. He closed his own eyes to block the images out, and looked straight ahead. There was a door there, different from the others, closed with no window, at the very end of the corridor. He wondered if that was where they were taking him. 

But before they were even close, they turned, and he was pushed into a room. He stumbled a few steps. When he regained his balance, he heard the door behind him click close, and the lock snap into place. He glared at the thing, even though it was inanimate, and had done nothing to him. Then, he assessed his current surroundings: white walls, a wire-framed bed, a simple nightstand – all bland, generic, and clinical. There was nothing to identify whose room it was, nothing to say that it had been lived in. 

Suddenly, he was tired, overwhelmingly so, and that simple bed appeared very inviting. With lethargic movements, he shuffled over to it, and plopped down in a heavy heap. The springs screeched in protest. He gave into his weighty eyelids, and let them fall. But before they completely shut, he sensed a movement beside him, a shadowed flutter, followed by a gentle, loving touch that slid through his hair. He smiled, comforted, and drifted off to sleep. 

(***) 

_"Hot date with Magnus tonight?"_

_Alec almost rolled his eyes at Isabelle's cheeky question and knowing smile. "No, why do you ask?" he replied as he shifted his bow to his right hand. Not that he didn’t love his sister and all, but Jace couldn't come back soon enough from his recon right now. If he and Isabelle were left here waiting any longer, she'd probably pull every tiny detail about his love life from him. And even though his relationship with Magnus was no secret, he did want to keep some things private._

_"No reason. You just look like you want the mission to be over." Neatly lined eyes narrowed in mock suspicion. "Which is strange because, well, this is you."_

_Alec cursed silently. He hadn't realized that he'd become so easy to read. "Okay, so what if I had something planned with Magnus tonight? It's not like I can play hooky."_

_Isabelle laughed at his admission. Still, she was one of his staunchest and strongest supporters. "No, you can't, but that doesn't mean we can't work faster to get you out of here."_

_As if on cue, Jace popped onto the train car on which the two of them had been perched. "About time," Isabelle threw at the blond._

_"Hey, no comments from the peanut gallery. You think just anyone can recon a whole train yard in ten minutes?"_

_Isabelle was about to respond when Alec cut in. He didn't have time for their banter, as much as it amused him sometimes. "So, what've we got?"_

_"The rogue werewolves, all three of them, near track junction two," Jace answered, all business now. "Clary's already getting Luke. They should be here soon."_

_Alec nodded, his mind already working on the best flanking configuration. "Jace, you're heading up the south end of the tracks, right through the middle and flushing them out. Izzy, you'll cut off their escape route on the north side. I'll provide cover from above."_

_His siblings had readied their weapons by the time his orders were out, and like well-fitted cogs of a machine falling into place, they were off. Alec hopped from train car to train car with little effort, an arrow out and nocked as he kept an eye on everyone's progress at ground level. By the time he got to his vantage point at the junction, Jace had already engaged the wolves._

_He loosed several arrows, corralling the wolves in the area so that Jace and Izzy could do their jobs. His breath was steady, and his aim, as always, true. Their targets behaved just as he'd expected them to, their frantic forms running toward Isabelle to escape. He heard the telltale 'thwip' of his sister's whip, and knew she was ready for them._

_Then, without warning, a stream of white light flashed in Isabelle's direction, followed by the echo of a frantic yell. Alec had been around Magnus long enough to recognize the light for what it was: a warlock._

_Shit, Izzy!_

_A pained cry cut through the night air. Quickly slinging his bow across his body, he leapt off his train car, and ran toward his sister, praying he wouldn't be too late._

(***) 

He bolted out of bed, heart racing and a name on his tongue. He looked around at his sterile surroundings, noting the white walls, barred windows, and locked door. 

Izzy. 

He had to get to Izzy. 

She needed him. She was in trouble. 

He tried the doorknob. When that didn't work, he started ramming the door with his shoulder. 

Fuck! Why wasn't it opening? 

He continued to kick and bang on the door, and would've kept going until either it or his body gave way if he hadn't heard the telltale click of the lock unbolting. He stepped back, his chest heaving from the exertion. 

When the door finally swung open, he made to exit, but was stopped by the two large men from the day before. He shook one of them off, his elbow moving involuntarily to connect with the man's throat in one practiced motion. His victim fell down with a strangled cry. But the other man was on him quickly, forcefully immobilizing his arms behind his back and pushing him up face first against the wall. His teeth clattered on impact, and his muscles strained painfully as he tried to twist out of the hold. He was right beside the entrance, and so damn close to getting away. And through the entryway, he saw that door at the end of the corridor. That had to be the way out. He just had to get there. 

"Alec, calm down." 

He stilled as a gray-haired man approached. Blackburn. Yes, he remembered the man's name. 

"I need to leave," he ground out, despite the pressure from the big man holding him against the wall. "I need to save her." 

Blackburn peered at him closely. "Who?" 

"My sister. She's in trouble." 

The man paused for a moment at Alec's words. Then, "Alec, do you know where you are? Why you're here?" 

Alec thought about it, but his mind drew a blank. "No, I don't know, and I don't care. I need to save Izzy." 

Blackburn placed a hand on his shoulder, and Alec assumed it was to calm him. He wasn't calm. 

"Alec, you're at the Brighthurst Institute, a psychiatric facility an hour outside of New Jersey. Your family checked you in here over a month ago when you suffered a schizophrenic episode, and tried to kill your sister with a knife." 

"What? No, I would never hurt Izzy. You're lying." There was a hint of hysteria in his voice that he couldn't seem to control. 

"Alec, it's true. You thought your sister was a demon, and you tried to kill her. You were a danger to yourself and to others around you. That's why you've been checked in here." 

"You're fucking lying," he spat. He bucked against the man still pinning him down, but the behemoth didn't budge. 

Blackburn signed audibly. "I thought the meds were working, but it looks like I might have to change them up." 

Alec didn't know what Blackburn was going on about, and so ignored him. He focused all his strength on getting free, on making his way to that door. But his efforts didn't get him very far. The moment he started to push away from the wall, there was a marked pinch in his neck, and almost instantly, his muscles went slack. Within seconds, he slid to the ground. Within a minute, his vision had spun into oblivion. 

(***) 

_Alec winced in pain as he dropped his gear off into the closet. He pressed a soothing hand to his ribs in an attempt to ease the pain that still lanced up his side. Despite the iratze Isabelle had drawn there for him, it would take a bit more time before it fully healed. Luckily, Izzy had escaped with only superficial wounds, nothing a rune wouldn't fix. He, unfortunately - or fortunately, depending on how he looked at it - had taken the more damaging blow originally meant for her. They'd managed to round up the rogue werewolves, and hand them over to Luke, but whoever that warlock had been somehow snuck away. It was a loss he'd take for now, but he was determined to find the bastard._

_"Well, I suppose better late than never," came a lilting voice behind him._

_Somewhat chagrinned, Alec straightened and turned to greet his boyfriend. "I'm sorry, Magnus. I got held up."_

_"I know, darling. It was part of the package when I started dating a Shadowhunter." The warlock was a vision in green and gold, and Alec couldn't tear his eyes off him. Oftentimes, he wondered how someone so glamorous could find any interest in boring him, but then, he would see that smile and the emotion in those eyes, and any doubts he'd had about Magnus' devotion flew out the window._

_"We can have dinner in since it's so late," the older man suggested as he pulled Alec close, and gave him a quick kiss._

_His wound complained at the contact, but Alec tightened his jaw and forced down the pain. A small cut like the one he had should heal on its own without any issues, so he didn't see the need to bother Magnus with it._

_"Sounds perfect." At least his voice was even. "I'm starving."_

_Magnus chuckled as he stepped away and headed to the kitchen. "Not surprising. Growing boys need food."_

_"Hey, was that a dig at my age?"_

_"Maybe."_

_Alec followed Magnus, warmth filling his chest at the comfortable familiarity between them. Although he never said it out loud, he looked forward to coming home to this at the end of a hunt. By the time he joined the warlock in the kitchen, the warmth had made its way onto his face, and he experienced a moment of disorientation. He put a hand out onto the counter to steady himself, grateful Magnus' back was turned._

_"How about Chinese take-out?" his boyfriend asked as he took out several dishes from the cabinets._

_"Yeah, that's fine." Alec looked down at a fixed point on the ground, trying to stop the sudden vertigo that had gripped him._

_"How lucky are you to have such a talented boyfriend who, on demand, can just snap fo- Alec!"_

_The floor came to meet him quickly, and Alec heard the loud clatter of chairs being knocked over. He didn't know if he'd been the cause or not, but he opened his mouth to apologize regardless. Nothing came out. In fact, he couldn’t make out anything at all - sight or sound - save some jumbled noises and blurred images that made it feel like he was underwater._

_And then, nothing._

(***) 

"M-Magnus?" 

His voice cracked. His mouth was dry. Yet, in spite of all that, he spoke anyways. And he opened his eyes. His glittery warlock stood several feet away, fear and worry etched so clearly on his face. Why? Why was Magnus scared? What was he afraid of? He had to help him. He pushed himself up off the bed - or rather, he tried to. He was promptly yanked back down. He glared at the culprit. Leather restraints, buckled securely around his wrists and ankles, prevented him from getting off the bed. 

What the -? 

"Alec?" 

He turned his head, eyes moving away from Magnus and focusing in on the gray-haired man beside his bed. 

"Who-?" 

"It's me, Alec. Dr. Blackburn, remember?" 

He froze briefly, waiting for recognition to come. It did, eventually. "Y-Yes, I remember." 

"Look, the restraints are for your safety. You could've really hurt yourself earlier, throwing yourself against the door like that. And you sent one of the orderlies to the hospital. You're stronger than you appear." 

Although Blackburn spoke with no censure, Alec wasn't at all comforted by the explanation. "When can I be let out?" 

The doctor watched him steadily, assertively. "I'm just going to administer a new prescription," he explained. "It should help. If this works, we can untie you." 

Alec blinked, unsure what he needed help with. Then, it sank in. He glanced over at Magnus, standing silently in the corner of the room. Panic began to fill every crevice inside him. "No," he protested weakly, pinning Blackburn with an accusing glare. "Don't. Please." 

These new drugs - they would take it all away: Izzy, Jace, Clary … Magnus. He didn't know how he knew, but he did. "Please don't take them away. Please don't take _him_ away." Desperation clawed at him, scratching at his insides like a voracious animal. He pulled hard against his restraints. "Please, I'm begging you. You can do anything you want to me, but just … just don't take Magnus away. Please, I need him." 

His skin was wet around the temples. Where had that come from? Was he crying? 

"Magnus?" Blackburn's calm tone was such a contract to his frantic one. "Oh, the magician. Or, no, the warlock you were telling me about yesterday. Those are just stories, Alec. This Magnus, he's not real. Warlocks, demons, werewolves, these hunters … they're all made up. The only exist in the imaginations of writers and Hollywood producers. I'm just helping you see that." 

"No!" His cry of denial was fierce. He pulled at his bonds with everything he had. "They're real! It's all real! And I need him! Why can't _you_ see that?" 

"It's okay, Alec." The doctor acted as if he hadn't heard the protests, the begging. Instead, Alec felt the rapid cooling sensation of alcohol on his skin, followed by a hard pinch in his arm. "This should fix everything." 

"No, I don't want to be fixed!" If being fixed meant losing Magnus, he was fine being broken. But this time, his protest was weaker, more subdued, and he wondered where his fight had gone. He looked over at Magnus' quiet figure standing behind Blackburn. His beautiful, shiny warlock … he was blurring, fading away, abandoning him. And there was nothing Alec could do about it. 

"Don't go," he said brokenly. "Please, please don't leave me …" 

(***) 

"You fucking find that weapon or that warlock who did this, and get it to me now!" Magnus promptly ended the call, and tossed his phone down onto the coffee table. His other hand continued to work on Alec, who lay so still on the couch. He forced his magic to flow in an effort to combat whatever poison had made its way into the nephilim's bloodstream. 

He was angry. Hell, that was an understatement. He was furious, livid, at Isabelle and Jace for not protecting Alec during their mission, and at Alec for … for being such an idiot! And he gave himself over to that fury - body and soul - because it distracted him. It distracted him from the debilitating fear that stalked him like a lethal predator. His magic was barely even helping Alec, and he recoiled from thinking about what would happen if he failed in his task. 

He cursed the stupidity of Shadowhunters, even as he held out hope that Jace and Isabelle would be able to track down the errant warlock who had been dealing magically tainted weapons to those werewolves. He wanted to call for more magical help, but frankly, he was afraid that if he even stopped his magic for a second, whatever enchanted poison was making its way through Alec's blood would win. 

"Please don't leave me..." 

The words were soft, barely above a whisper, but he was attentive to every nuance of his lover, and he heard them, loud and clear. 

"Never, darling." He swallowed passed the lump that had formed in his throat. He leaned over, and placed a gentle hand on Alec's forehead. "I'm here, always. But I need you to fight, Alexander. Fight as hard as you can. I can only do so much, and you need to meet me partway. You got that, you stubborn nephilim? I won't … I can't lose you!" His voice cracked a bit near the end of his plea, but he didn't care. 

Then, Alec's whole body relaxed, as if melting into the sofa, and at first, Magnus thought he'd managed to purge enough poison out to trigger a healing sleep, but then, the unnatural stillness suddenly registered, and he swore vehemently. 

"Alec, don't you do this to me. Don't you fucking do this to me," he ground out, letting the anger take control. It was a safer emotion right now, stronger, sturdier, and he clung onto it so he could continue to function. "Alec!" He checked for a pulse, a breath … any sign of life. "Alec …!" 

(***) 

"So how are you feeling today, Alec?" 

He pulled his attention away from the dust motes dancing on the rays of sunlight, and put it back to Dr. Blackburn. "Fine," he said mechanically. He was back in the office again. He couldn't remember how he got here. 

"Have you had anymore visions recently?" 

Alec gave the other man a puzzled look. "Visions? What visions?" 

The doctor glanced down at his notebook. "You were telling me about vampires and werewolves, hunters and warlocks. Have you seen any of those today?" 

His brain felt fuzzy, like someone had stuffed it full of cotton and had forgotten to take it out. "Uh, no, I haven't. Those things aren't real, Doctor." 

Blackburn wrote something down in his book before giving him a reassuring smile. "You're right, Alec. They aren't. Like I said, they're just stories, right? Stories people tell to scare children." 

Alec nodded. Even though everything the doctor said made sense, something still sat uneasily with him. Yet, he couldn't pinpoint what it was. 

_/ ... I need you to fight, Alexander. /_

"Are you sure you're okay there, Alec?" 

He forced himself to focus. "Yeah, just feeling really tired." 

"That's probably a side effect of the new medication. Does anything else feel out of the ordinary?" 

He wanted to say everything, but he simply shook his head instead. 

"Good," the doctor continued. "Now, is there anything you'd like to talk about today? Your family maybe? Sister? Brothers?" 

Again, he shook his head. Frankly, he just wanted to sleep, and let the world pass him by. His eyelids were that heavy. 

"What about Magnus? Did you want to talk about him?" 

"Who?" 

_/ I'm here, always. /_

Blackburn flipped through a few pages of his notebook before finding what he was looking for. "Magnus Bane," he clarified. 

"Sorry, I don't know who that is ..." 

(***) 

There was a flutter, just out of the corner of his eye. 

There! 

But he didn't really want to see or know what it was. 

The two big men were taking him back to his room again. Only, this time, one of them was different from the other day. He wondered where the other one went. 

The rooms he passed were empty, the windows on the doors dark. So lonely here … and a little spooky. 

_/ Alec! /_

There was that flutter again, and that voice. 

'Go away,' he wanted to say. 'Go away, and leave me alone. You're not real.' But he kept his mouth shut. He was going to get better. He was going to beat this, and get out of this facility, and go home. 

Home? 

Where was that? 

He didn't know, or remember, but the doctor had said he was showing progress, and he supposed it was enough. No more episodes, no more psychotic breaks - that was a start. 

_/ ... Stubborn nephilim ... I can't lose you! /_

His heart constricted for some reason, like something heavy was pressing down hard on his chest. But he kept walking. 

_/ I need you to fight, Alexander. Fight as hard as you can. /_

There was that door again, at the end of the hall, beckoning. He wondered … 

_/ ... Meet me partway. /_

He paused, his shoes making an abnormally loud squeak on the neatly waxed floor. That voice … it hurt. So much desperation, so much fear and pain. He wanted it to stop. He wanted that voice to be filled with happiness and laughter. 

_/ Alec! /_

"Magnus." The name left his mouth in a breath, and suddenly, he knew what he had to do. He ran. 

The two orderlies beside him were caught off guard by his unexpected sprint, but they recovered quickly. He could hear them close behind, a threatening presence that dogged his heels. His pulse drummed erratically in his ears as his lungs strained from the mad dash. He forced the discomfort from his mind, forced his legs to keep move and his arms to keep swinging. He needed to get to that door. He needed to get to Magnus. 

Strong fingers gripped his forearm, a tight vise slowing down his momentum. Reflexively, he twisted around, and pulled his attacker in, his free arm wrapping under the orderly's elbow and his weight shifting to his back leg. The maneuver gave him enough leverage to yank up, and cause a resounding crack. 

The orderly let go immediately, and pulled back with a pained shout. But Alec didn't have time to dwell on his victory, or marvel at how his body had moved so instinctively. He just kept running. He felt his other guard right behind him, yelling at him, grabbing at him. 

Then, he was falling, a forceful weight between his shoulder blades disrupting his balance. His knees hit the ground hard. His hands splayed out to catch himself. 

Shit. 

_/ I need you to fight, Alexander. /_

He looked up. He was right there. He just had to reach out. 

And he did. Fingertips grazed over the cold metal doorknob. He grasped it, and turned. 

(***) 

"Welcome back, Alexander." 

He blinked, the blurry figures slowly regaining some clarity. At first, his groggy brain didn't recognize any of the faces staring intently down at him, but then, slowly, the names started to come back. 

"Magnus," he said hoarsely. And there was Jace, and Clary, both looking on with expressions of relief. And - 

"Geez, big brother! You scared the shit out of us!" Isabelle almost fell on top of him in her bid to give him a hug. He hugged her back. 

"W-What happened?" His eyes travelled inquiringly from his parabatai to Clary, and finally, to Magnus. 

"You were poisoned," Jace supplied. "During our fight with those werewolves and warlock. The werewolves used a tainted weapon they'd bought from the warlock. Guess the poison didn't kick in until later." 

"Yeah, Magnus made us track down the warlock to identify the poison, and formulate an antidote," Isabelle added as she stood back up. "When we healed your wound with the iratze, we sealed the poison in your blood." 

"Thank you." Alec sat up on the couch, and gave his lover a weak smile. The movement triggered a dizzy spell, and he waited until his head stopped spinning before speaking. "How long was I out?" 

"Several hours." Magnus moved forward to give him some physical support. 

Alec wanted to lean completely against the other man, but not wanting his siblings to worry, he forced himself to sit upright. "Really? It seemed like a lot longer than that." 

In fact, it had felt like days. Images of sterile rooms, and fluorescent lit corridors flickered before his eyes. 

Magnus watched him closely, his gaze boring into Alec almost to the point where he wanted to squirm. "Now that we've gotten the poison out of your system, I think you need to get some rest." The warlock threw a loaded look toward the motley crew standing around them. 

Clary was the first to take the hint. She grabbed Jace's arm and started dragging him to the door. "You're right, Magnus. We should let Alec get some sleep." Jace opened his mouth to protest, but a little tug from her pre-empted that. "I'm glad you're better now, Alec!" she said as she left, Jace in tow. 

Isabelle paused to give him one more quick hug before she made to follow. "I'm glad you're okay too. And please don't do that again. You had us so worried, and I think Magnus was about to commit a homicidal act against us if we hadn't gotten a hold of that warlock." 

Alec gave her a squeeze before he nodded. He tried to infuse some levity into his expression as she closed the door, but he personally thought he did a poor job of it. He sat in silence for a few seconds after they all left. Magnus remained beside him, and even though Alec didn't look directly at his lover, he sensed the man's heavy gaze on him. A warm hand touched the side of his face, and turned his head. He closed his eyes, and leaned into the touch, basking in the warmth - and tangibility - of it. 

"How are you feeling, darling? And I mean, really feeling?" 

Magnus' voice sounded worried, and tired. For some reason, Alec's eyes stung at the sound. That voice - he opened his eyes and placed a kiss on the palm pressed against his skin. "I heard you," he whispered. "I was so lost, and I heard you. You brought me back." 

"Alec?" 

"I-I don't know what the poison did to me, but I think it must've caused some kind of lucid dream." 

Magnus made a contemplative sound. "It must've been some dream if it's still troubling you. Did you want to talk about it?" 

Alec looked at his lover - really looked - and finally noticed the lines of strain and fatigue around the man's eyes. He'd scared Magnus, had put him through something unspeakable. And he felt horrible for that. Almost automatically, he made to apologize. But a flutter of movement in the corner of the room stopped him. He glanced over. 

A man was standing there - gray-haired, blue-eyed, and dressed in a three-piece suit. His expression was somber, sad in a way, with pity in his gaze. Blackburn. Alec didn't know where the name had come from, but he did know that it belonged to the strange man, just as he knew that Magnus couldn't see him. That pity - it was for him. The gray-haired man looked at him as he were a lost cause, as if Alec had let him down. 

_/ ... they're just stories, right? /_

"Alec?" 

"Huh?" His gaze lingered on Blackburn for just a moment longer before he pulled it back to meet Magnus. 

"Did you want to tell me about it?" 

_/ This Magnus, he's not real. /_

No, Magnus was here. Magnus was real. And Magnus was his. If this was all in his head, if this was some grand, complex delusion created by his badly wired brain, then so be it. Nothing, neither anti-psychotic drugs nor determined doctors would tell him otherwise. Because here, he was loved. Here, he belonged. 

Alec shook his head, and gave his lover a shaky smile. "No, that's fine. It's a stupid story anyways." 

Magnus didn't seem convinced by his words, which only prompted Alec to lean in for a reassuring kiss. Yes, he thought as he savored the exotic, intoxicating taste of the other man. This was the life he chose, not that other one where magic - both good and bad - didn't exist. And Blackburn could put on all the disappointed airs and pitying looks he wanted. This was his decision, and he would accept the consequences, whatever they were. And as he pulled away from his lover, his resolve slowly took root, like a plant spreading its reach into every crevice of his brain. His smile widened, became brighter. And the man in the corner? Well, he simply faded away. 


End file.
